Kamen Rider Orbis
by AkibaSilver
Summary: An evil awakens, searching for anything that can help them exterminate humanity. And only one person stands in their way- Gorou Sanagai, but known mostly by a different name- Kamen Rider Orbis. Rated T for violence and some mature themes along the way
1. The Furious Flame Awakens

Note: Kamen Rider is owned by Toei and was originally created by Shotaro Ishinomori. If you're reading this, Toei lawyers, please don't sue me. All characters are original creations.

A motorbike rode up to a small building in the outskirts of a town, and the rider dismounted, looking around. He took the note out of his pocket, checking the address. "Well, this is it. Whatever it is." There didn't seem to be anything out of the ordinary- it was just an ordinary suburb, as far as he could tell. Not caring much, he knocked on the door of the house, not really expecting an answer. It swung open at his contact, obviously unlocked, and he entered, walking into the dusty corridor.

"It's me. Gorou. You invited me here?" He wasn't sure why he was asking- the house looked like it hadn't been disturbed in months. He passed into the kitchen, where all the cupboards were open, and were empty. "Is there actually anyone here?" His legs took him into the living room, where there was a single sofa, black and forlorn, in a fairly large room. The curtains were closed on the windows, casting the room in shadow. He rolled his eyes and started walking out of the house, having obviously been pranked by an idiot. But before he could leave, something caught his attention.

There was a door in the wall that had been closed when he had entered, but was now swinging on its hinges. "Oh, you thing this is funny?" Gorou laughed angrily. "Do you have nothing better to do?" He walked quickly at the open door, entering the room. It was small and dark, feeling like a cellar, with only a single feature- a set of stairs leading into a basement. "Obviously not…" He muttered to himself, walking into the basement.

The basement was dank and dark, with no light. Gorou pulled out his phone, switching on the light to see a room made of stone. While Gorou didn't know much about buildings, he could guess that the room he was in was much older than the rest of the house, possibly by hundreds of years.

"So you actually arrived? The Boss was not expecting that!" Gorou heard a small female voice speak out before he felt a pain in the back of his head. He fell to the floor, groaning in pain. "Sorry! I was told to surprise you with the knock-out gas. I guess I should have listened. Maybe now?" She knelt down, spraying his face with a gas that smelt vaguely of cinnamon, but mostly of chloroform. The room faded quickly as he lunged for her, his now unconscious body hitting the floor with a large thud.

Gorou's dreams were mostly filled with strange cinnamon flavoured women constantly hitting him in the back of the head, but he was rudely (in his opinion) pulled from them by a spray that smelt differently- this time of mint. He found himself sitting in a comfy chair across a desk from an old man, with grey hair and a wrinkled face, wearing a navy tuxedo jacket. "Did you have a comfortable sleep?" The man asked, kindness in his eyes.

Gorou just stared at his eyes. "You- or rather, your incompetent sidekick- knocked me out after trying to shatter my skull. And now you want to know if I'm comfortable?" His voice was monotone, obviously full of hatred for the old man, who just stirred his tea.

"Well, we had to get to you. It was easier to kidnap you than to wait and see if you would come voluntarily." He picked up his tea and drank it, but frowned and put it down. "Cold. Shame."

"Why would you go and bother to kidnap me? Hell, why kidnap anyone?" Gorou started shouting, getting up, which was where he realised he wasn't actually chained there, like he had assumed. "And then why not bother to chain me up?" He looked around, ready to leave, but he noticed that there was no door anywhere on the four walls of the small, normal looking office. "… I have no idea how I got here…" He said aloud, more for himself than the old man.

"I should introduce myself. I am Oshiro, the leader of this organisation, founded a century ago to research the mystical jewels discovered by my ancestors." He was about to continue, but Gorou interrupted.

"Have I walked into a society of lunatics? This sounds like something you've dreamed up while on some pretty serious drugs." Oshiro cut him off by tapping his cup gently, before reaching into his pocket and pulling out a small red crystal sphere, sparkling like ruby, with the inside swirling.

"This is one of them. We don't know where they come from, nor why they exist, but we have out theories. But what we do know is made up of two things." He smiled pausing, slightly annoying Gorou.

"And these two things are?"

"I was hoping you would ask that. We know that they can be used as an immense power source by certain people, and we know that something is after them." He put the crystal on the table, which despite its spherical shape, did not roll away.

"And this involves me how?" Gorou was still slightly confused- while the old man's story was interesting, he had still been kidnapped. "Unless you go around kidnapping people to tell them this, what use am I?"

Oshiro's smile turned to a frown. "Did you not listen, young boy? An immense power source by certain people?"

Gorou's brain slowly worked through what he had said, before coming out with the only reasonable answer. "Me? You think I can make some sort of magic power from a pool ball?"

"Not you exactly." Oshiro reached under his tuxedo jacket and pulled out a mechanical device. It was circular and silver, with a small black dent in the middle, the same size of the gem, with a glass shell over it. On the top right corner of the circle, a small lever poked out. Three buttons were grouped around the left side of the device. And jutting out from behind it was a belt strap. "You and this."

Gorou was, to put it lightly, not impressed. "It's a belt. A cool looking belt, sure, but a belt."

"This belt is the result of 100 years of research. A miracle of technology from some of the best minds that live today… well, one slightly impressive mind and his apprentice, who've you've already met." Oshiro put the belt on the table, pushing it towards Gorou along with the jewel. "It's designed to let the jewels we have, and a suitable person, combine to form a powerful warrior, able to fight the approaching evil."

"Wait, fight evil? You said something about people wanting them earlier…" Gorou said aloud, having not talked in a while, and Oshiro smiled.

"Ah. So you were listening. Yes, an evil force is after the jewels, presumably for the immense power inside them. Normal weapons do not affect them, as we found out last week…"

Gorou looked at him, his interest piqued. "Last week? You mean… that gas explosion?"

"Wasn't a gas explosion. It was us realising how much we needed to finish this device. And, as far as we are aware, it is not even an abnormally powerful monster." Oshiro explained, his eyes losing all kindness and becoming extremely focused.

"That thing killed five people and put twelve in hospital, and you expect me to fight it?" Gorou was annoyed now- the man could be lying, but one of his friends had been suspicious of the news reports, claiming that 'something about it didn't seem right'. "You said suitable people- why me? Why not someone else?"

"You, Gorou Sanagai, are an orphan with no siblings, very few friends, and no employment or notable occasions soon." Oshiro said, looking at him sadly.

"So you mean I'm expendable? I'm sure there are better people for that, as bad as it sounds." Gorou looked at him, annoyed once more at his lack of friends.

"Not entirely- you are fit enough to make a decent fighter, and, most importantly, your DNA synchronises well with the Jewels. The three variables overlapped, and you were the resultant person." He was about to continue when an alarm went off, the lights flashing red. Oshiro looked Gorou straight in the eyes, and pressed a button on his desk. A hidden door behind him slid open, revealing Gorou's motorcycle. He grabbed the jewel and the belt and forced it into Gorou's hands. "You must go. That beast has returned, and if you don't deal with it, more people will die."

Gorou looked at him, not really understanding, but Oshiro just nodded, pushing him around the desk towards the motorcycle. Gorou got onto his bike quickly, putting on his belt, the strap locking around his waist perfectly. He put the jewel in his pocket, and revved the engine, a metal door opening in front of him, revealing a long metallic corridor. "Where does this go?" He asked, realising he had no idea where he was.

"Where you need to go." Oshiro walked back into his office, offhandedly saying, "We'll talk about your salary if… when you return," just before his door slid shut. Gorou ignored him, speeding down the metal chamber until he reached the end, exiting through a hole in a wall that closed when he had left.

* * *

He stopped when he found what he had been looking for- it hadn't been hard, looking for the destroyed buildings and listening for screams. He stopped his motorcycle and dismounted, the vaguely-humanoid creature turning to face him, staring at him, confused. It was covered in black armour, with hairs along the legs, of which there were eight- two used as regular legs, two being used as arms, and four along its back. Its head was taken up by eight red eyes, which didn't blink as Gorou stared back into them. It only growled at him, not seeming to possess any sign of intelligence.

Gorou grimaced. He couldn't see any dead bodies, but that didn't mean people weren't in danger. He moved his hand to his belt, sliding the lever upwards and pulling the glass chamber open. He reached into his pocket, pulling out the red jewel. The creature hissed at this, starting to edge closer. Gorou snarled back at it, slotting the crystal forcibly into the belt, with it announcing 'Fire'. It beeped, lights in the buttons activating, and the jewel started glowing brightly. Gorou, reminded of a show he had watched once, long ago, spoke a word, preparing to fight.

"Henshin!"

His right hand pushed the lever down with a quick flick, stopping halfway as the glass cover closed up, sealing the jewel. He continued, pushing the lever all the way down, the jewel glowing as the Spider-Creature made a move, rushing at him. It was pushed back by a red sphere that formed around him, flickering like fire. Inside the sphere, Gorou stood there, not sure what was happening. He watched as red crystal fragments formed on the skin of the sphere, which quickly moved into to cover his chest, shoulders and thighs. Black armour formed between the red pieces, with a larger piece attaching to the back of his head, with pieces of it sliding out to form a red and black helmet with large eyes. He moved his hand up, dissipating the sphere into a bust of flames.

The spider monster wasted no time rushing at him, punching him in his chest. Gorou fell backwards, but dodged the next punch, and threw his own one into the beast's face. One of its eyes exploded into goo, the creature screaming in pain and slicing at Gorou with its back arms, spinning him backwards and drawing sparks from his armour. Gorou rolled under the spider's flailing arms and pulled its legs, dropping it to the ground. He stood up quickly as the monster stumbled to its feet and kicked it, forcing it into a nearby wall.

"Had enough yet?" Gorou taunted, feeling confident. He regretted this two second later, when he was hit by a large blob of web, tying him to a nearby building, unable to move as the spider monster slowly ambled towards him, hissing angrily. It slashed at him with its legs, drawing more sparks and causing Gorou to yell in pain- numbed pain, sure, but still pain. Gorou struggled against the bonds, only being freed when the monster misaimed one of his blows and sliced through the webbing. He swerved around the monster and punched it in the back before grabbing one of the arms and attempting to bring the monster to the ground. He only succeeded in ripping its arm off, making it scream more and strike at his face.

"Let's see what this does." Gorou muttered, stepping away and pressing the middle button. The driver beeped, with a red portal coming from the jewel, despite the glass casing surrounding it. The hilt of a weapon jutted out, and Gorou grabbed it and pulled, revealing a large blade with a red hilt. "I like this…" He grinned, swinging the sword at the spider monster as it lunged at him, cutting of another arm, green goo gushing from its stump. The creature stopped running, seeming to catch its breath. "Now, what do I name this nice piece of equipment?"

"Would you focus on the fight?" He heard someone shout at him from somewhere. Gorou ignored him, starting to examine the weapon as the creature lunged around. He opened a hatch on the back of the blade hilt, revealing a space for the jewel. He opened the section on his belt, letting him take out the jewel and place it in his sword. The crystal glowed brightly, the weapon starting to cover itself in fire. He ran at the creature, which turned to face him, staring blankly. Gorou, still slightly annoyed by that comment, had an idea of how to show he was really taking this seriously.

"Inferno Slash!" He shouted, slicing the creature in half, his sword blazing with hot fire. The spider creature fell to the ground, set alight. Gorou started walking away from the corpse when it exploded, making him spin around in shock. "And that takes care of that, I guess." He muttered to himself, looking around. While there seemed to be some damage, there didn't seem to be anything permanent done to the buildings.

He got back on his bike, before realising he wasn't sure where to go. "Just go back the way you came… we'll open the exit up." The strange voice came from nowhere again, and this time, annoyance aside, Gorou decided to listen to it. He closed the glass section again, de-transforming, the sword fading back into energy and the crystal dropping back into his hand, where it was moved into his pocket. He revved his bike, driving back the way he had come.

* * *

"So, this is how much you think I'm worth? ¥50,000 a year? I may not have a job, but I know that's not pretty good."

Gorou was sat back in Oshiro's office, where he had been sitting, drinking tea, while Gorou had been fighting the creature. He had quickly moved onto the issue of money, seemingly uninterested in how the fight had gone.

"Oh, sorry. I believe that is in American Dollars. It comes from various sponsors of ours. According to the conversion rate, it is around…" He looked at his computer screen, which resembled a wreck dragged from a 90's technology fair. "¥6.08 million."

Gorou stared at him, mouth agape. "I will do whatever you tell me to do for that money. Literally anything. But don't you want to know how the fight went…" He asked, wanting to move on from the amount of money now that he realised just how much it was, and not wanting to lose any of it.

Oshiro waved his hand. "You must have won, otherwise you wouldn't be here. Now, you may want to get some sleep before we move you to your new quarters, if you want them."

Gorou thought- anywhere would have to be better than his leaky-roofed single-room flat owned by a mate of a mate of a cousin. "I'll take it."

Oshiro sighed. "I've been informed I'll have to use this on you before the move." He pulled out a small silver canister, which resembled a deodorant spray.

Gorou only saw it for a moment before he was sprayed with a gas that smelled mostly of chloroform, but had a small hint of cinnamon. He swore, the word fading into nothing as he fell onto the floor, blacking out.

* * *

I hope you enjoyed this chapter! If you did, share it with your friends, and please review. It convinces me that people want to read, which translates into me actually writing stuff! (Even if your review is "It sucks.") Until next time, goodbye!


	2. The Surging Warrior Wakens

Gorou felt himself slowly float into consciousness, his brain swimming in a sea of dreams. His eyes drifted open, leaving him staring at a white ceiling that looked clean. His brain finally kicked in and reminded itself of the events of the last few hours. He slowly began moving, still groggy after being knocked out- again.

"Hello? Oshiro-san? Are you there, so I can punch you for the spray?" He shouted, his words slurring. When he didn't hear a reply, he slowly dragged himself out of his comfy bed, looking around the room. It was nice and clean, with a bed, wardrobe and mirror. He looked at himself in the mirror- he was still wearing his clothes from the previous day, or at least what he guessed was the previous day, which was a black jacket with a white shirt, and blue jeans, with cheap, battered trainers lying at his feet. His curly black hair was messy and unkempt, and his face had a small bit of stubble spread around his mouth. He yawned, still tired slightly.

Opening the wardrobe, he saw a few sets of clothes identical to what he was wearing now. He changed, throwing his old clothes into the corner, and walked out of the door, entering a room with a small sofa facing a TV, with the girl from yesterday laid on it, sleeping, lightly snoring. The noise of him exiting his room woke her up, muttering, "No Boss, I fixed the prototype… Oh, you're awake!" She stared at him, smiling, being slightly off-putting. After a few seconds, Gorou decided to up this to being very off-putting. He started backing into the room, trying to get away from her before she sprayed him again.

"No, I'm still asleep." He said, hoping she would still think she was dreaming. "In fact, I was never here. Just leave me be…" He might have made it, but she jumped up and grabbed him.

"Nope! Oshiro-san put me here to make sure you were OK… So, are you OK?" She asked, confused. "I mean, you look fine, but I can't tell. I'm not a Doctor, I'm just an assistant to the Boss, and he said he didn't want me around for a while, so-"

"If I say I'm fine, can I leave?" He asked dryly, cutting her off, and slowly removing her arms. She blushed slightly and pulled her arms away quickly, and to Gorou's horror, she started speaking again. Her voice wasn't annoying, but there was so much of it…

"No, you can't leave, sorry. Oshiro-san wants you to stay here until you're needed again, which might be soon, because we don't know how all these creatures are made…"

Gorou tuned her out, looking around the room. There were no windows, which was a shame, but it looked nice enough-he could see a bathroom with a shower, and a door leading into another bedroom… Realisation slowly hit his brain, and he shuddered internally.

"…And I'm sorry for grabbing you, but I really couldn't let you leave, because then the Boss wouldn't let me work on the prototype, which is all I'm really interested in right now-"

"Please tell me that's not your room." He cut her off again, getting the feeling he'd have to get used to this.

"Sorry?" She said, sounding apologetic. "It's just that Oshiro-san, or at least the people in charge, decided that someone should look after you while you were here, and I was the best one for the job."

Gorou sighed. "You were the best one they had?" He muttered to himself, turning round to the front door, getting ready to leave. "Look, thanks for looking after me…" He paused, not knowing her name.

"Natsumi!" She answered brightly, smiling.

"Well, thank you, but considering you sprayed me with knock-out gas, and I really don't know you, I hope you don't mind if I just leave." He reached for the handle, but it refused to move, no matter how much pressure he put on it. He heard the jingling of keys behind him, and he sighed again. "You wouldn't happen to have seen the keys, would you?" He asked, not expecting a serious answer.

"I told you, you can't leave until someone asks for you." Gorou heard a happy note in Natsumi's voice, obviously holding back laughter.

"You know, this isn't making me like you any more than I already do…" He said to her, slightly smiling. As much as he was annoyed he couldn't leave, he had to give her some credit for her plan. "Any chance you're just going to give me the keys?"

"Well, I could…" She walked around, leaning into his line of vision, smiling. "But then I'd get into a lot of trouble, and I don't see that being fun-" Her taunting was cut off by the ringing of her mobile, which she answered, her face losing her smile as the man on the other end talked. Gorou recognised the voice from the day before as the man he had heard during his fight, even if he couldn't hear the exact words- the strong accent made it obvious who it was.

After a minute or so, Natsumi put the phone back in her pocket, frowning slightly. "It's the Boss. He wants to see you for a check-up or something, and he wants to examine this." She pulled out his driver from under her red woolly jacket, looking at it, confused. Gorou grabbed for it, but she pulled it away, still looking at it, making him stumble into the centre of the room.

He span around just to see her unlock the door, reaching into her pocket and switching out the keys for the gem. "You ready to go see the maker of this driver of yours?" Natsumi walked out of the door, but Gorou stayed, thinking about his options. She popped her head back around the door. "Of course, I could use this again!" She pulled out a small spray can, and Gorou gritted his teeth.

"Fine. Not as if I have much of a choice…" He followed her down the corridor outside to a lift, which she pressed the button for. They waited in silence for about a minute before Natsumi spoke again.

"By the way, I'm sorry for knocking you out." Her voice was less happy than usual, more sincere in tone. "I wasn't anything personal, it was just… Just what I got told to do." She bowed to him, her face twisted into a sad shape, her long black hair falling to brush the ground. "I'm sorry!"

Gorou wasn't sure how to respond, so the lift did it for him, with a small 'ding'. He stepped past her into the now open elevator. "Come on. I assume you're coming with me."

She stood up, stepping into the life with him, not making eye contact and pressing the button for the basement. The doors closed, and they descended in silence. When the lift reached the bottom, the doors slid open and they were greeted by a large man with a large beard, wearing a white lab coat. He started shouting at them, his accent very thick.

"Where have you been? I phoned you-" He lifted up his wrist, checking a large, very bulky wristwatch. "-Five minutes ago! Or maybe three! I forgot to check when I phoned you…" He grabbed the driver out of Natsumi's hands, and started walking over to a cluttered bench, various bits of technology strewn across it. He pushed some of the parts out of the way and dropped the driver on the table, scanning it with his eyes. "It seems fine, despite it being given to an idiot." He muttered, not very quietly. Gorou walked over to him, picking his driver back up.

"You know, this idiot did do pretty well." He said, annoyed at this guy.

"I don't care- you still have no idea what you're doing. I blame that fool that gave you the driver." He sighed loudly, stroking his beard. "Stop looking at me like that. You're fine!" Gorou hadn't been looking at him any differently than he would look at anything else, except with maybe a raised eyebrow. "We examined you in your sleep- there don't seem to be any issues, apart from your extremely low IQ." He looked back over to Natsumi, who was staying away from the duo. "Natsumi-kun! The Gem?"

She gasped, searching around under her jumper for the gem. Finding it, she threw it at the scientist, who caught it, casting his eye over the surface. "Not a scratch on it. What an unsurprising surprise." He shoved the gem into Gorou's hand, staring into his eyes. "Look, I may not trust you, but if that fool upstairs does, I don't have a choice, so listen carefully."

The scientist started to speak, but was cut off by a large alarm sounding in the room, with the lights on the ceiling flashing red. "Sigh." He said, over dramatically.

Gorou started to walk out, putting on his driver, the machine attaching to his waist. "I guess that's my signal," he muttered to himself, pressing the button for the lift.

"Your bike's that's way." Natsumi said, standing next to him all of a sudden, pointing at a small door at the side of the large lab. "We made some improvements to it…" He nodded at her, not making eye contact. Walking past the scientist, he bumped shoulder, but he felt a small crystal being pushed into his hand. Holding it up, he saw a blue gem, similar to his red one, but the centre looked more calm and serene than the ruby gem in his pocket.

"It's the only other one we have. Make good use of it." The scientist said, not looking at him, obviously not wanting to give him the crystal. Gorou smiled slightly before walking into the side room to see his motorbike waiting there. It didn't look any different, apart from slightly shinier plating. He got onto it, and switched it on, feeling the engine roar underneath him, more powerful than before. The door in front of him opened into the corridor from the day before, and he drove off, accelerating incredibly quickly.

Natsumi and the Boss waited as they heard him drive away. "So… what do you think of him?" Natsumi asked, trying to start a conversation.

The Boss just threw a small piece of tech at her. "This needs fine-tuning." He said gruffly, moving back to another desk, and switching on a monitor, which showed the driver's systems and Gorou's vital signs. "Let's see if he can get himself killed this time…"

* * *

A young woman screamed as a sharp spine just missed her head. The originator of the spine, a large, humanoid, creature with arms and torso covered in sharp quills, simply fired another one, but this one was blocked by the side of a motorcycle. Gorou turned to the woman, who was surprised to be saved in such a dramatic manner. "Run!" he shouted, and the woman listened, still coherent enough to listen to obvious advice.

The Porcupine creature growled at him, wary of the new arrival. Gorou grimaced, pulling out the red gem and inserting it into his driver. "Henshin!"

He slammed the lever down, and the red sphere appeared around him, forming his armour. When it dissipated, he pressed the central button on his driver, and pulled out his sword. He rushed towards the monster, but it fired a black quill into his torso, the armour sparking with red bursts and forcing him back, him shouting in pain. The creature stepped towards him and upper-cutted him with a dark spiky fist, forcing him backwards. He swung his sword at the monster, but it only sliced of a single spike, which grew back.

Gorou swore as the creature punched him in the face, the spikes being blocked by his helmet, but still causing him a lot of pain as he fell to the floor and rolled away. He gasped in a large amount of pain, thinking about what he could use to defend himself as the creature slowly edged towards him.

"Let's try this…" He muttered, pulling out the blue gem from a storage pocket on his belt. He shakily got to his feet, pulling up the lever on his driver, opening the chamber in the centre. He removed the red gem, replacing it with the blue gem.

"Water." The Driver announced to no-one in general as Gorou slammed the lever down, sealing the gem in its chamber. His henshin sphere reformed, this time a deep shade of navy blue. His red armour on his arms, legs and torso shattered, fading to nothing, being replaced by armour made from the energy shield protecting him from the creature, which was punching at it, to no effect. The sphere dissolved as Gorou rushed past the monster, carefully dodging its fists, feeling refreshed from the slight break in the beating.

"Now, hopefully, this won't be a sword." He muttered, pressing the central button again. This time, a blue portal formed through the chamber, with the grip of a gun forming. Gorou grabbed it and removed it from the driver. It was sleek, with a small barrel and a locking space for a gem on the underside, in front of the trigger.

As the porcupine creature swung at him, he dodged, shooting it in the shoulder. The creature roared, shooting spike from the affected area, which completely missed Gorou, who had ducked to the other side, where he shot it again. This time, when its leg was hit, it span to face Gorou, shooting him with several spikes, which caught him, pinning him to the wall by his shoulder armour. This didn't faze Gorou, though. He knew he had this.

He passed the gun to his other hand and shot the creature directly in the stomach. This made the monster back away in pain as Gorou continued to shoot it, forcing it away from him. When it was safe enough, he reached to his shoulder and pulled the spike out, throwing it to the ground. His armour reformed around the newly made hole, fixing it in seconds. Sadly, this was long enough for the creature to get close enough for him to deliver a punch to his stomach, which hurt more than before. This form, he thought, hitting his back on the wall, was obviously not as strong as the other. But what he did have, he though, was a pretty strong weapon and some good skills.

Using what strength he had left, he dodged the creature's next blow before pressing the top button on his belt, making it say "Water," again. He felt power flow from his gem, and saw water gather at his fingertips. He shot it towards the monster as a powerful stream, forcing it and any spikes it shot backwards. When the flow started drying up, he switched his gun into his main hand and shot the monster in its now bare torso, it loudly screeching.

"Let's end this." He growled to himself, opening the chamber and removing the water gem, before opening the chamber on the gun and placing the gem in there. He felt it surge with power as energy started gathering at the tip of the weapon. He pointed it towards the Porcupine, which was stumbling around in a circle, obviously weak.

He pulled the trigger, shouting, "Torrent Blast!"

The ball of water energy at the end of the gun shot towards the creature, streaking quickly towards it and striking it directly in the chest. It glowed, surrounding the creature, before it exploded in a spray of liquid, followed by the creature exploding in a fireball. Gorou sighed, looking at the damage around him before demorphing, closing the chamber again, his armour disintegrating. "So, did you like that name?" He asked, knowing the engineer could hear him. He heard a small, annoyed growl from nowhere before it cut out, making him chuckle slightly.

* * *

Arriving back at the base, the scientist was nowhere to be found, with Natsumi sitting at a bench, tinkering with a circuit board unsuccessfully. Hearing him enter, to his dismay, she turned to face him. "Congratulations on not dying," she said with a smile. "That's what the Boss said before he left- something about hating your guts, I think."

Gorou smiled weakly at her. This was going to take some getting used to. "Look, I'm just ready for more sleep. As long as you don't spray me again, it should be fine."

She got up, smiling. "Done. I could use some sleep too- I've barely slept in the three days you were out for."

Gorou's jaw dropped. "I was unconscious for three days? And you didn't think to worry?!"

Natsumi's smile faltered slightly. "Well, most of the time you spent being checked up on by the doctors. Oshiro-san wanted to make sure you were OK."

He sighed. He guessed that it wasn't her fault. "Fine. At least that time it wasn't your fault."

He walked past her, and she got up, following him, jingling the keys. "Wait up! You can't get in without these!"

* * *

A rider gaining a new form? More secondary cast members? This seems like a basic second episode of a rider series. I hope you enjoy! As always, recommend it to your friends, recommend it to your enemies, and please review! Until next time, goodbye!


	3. The New Gem Shines

Kamen Rider is the property of Toei. All characters are original creations, and should bear no resemblance to anyone, living or dead. I forgot this last time, so if the story gets removed, that's the reason.

* * *

"Gorou-kun? You awake?"

Gorou remained silent, hoping that Natsumi would leave if he pretended to be asleep. He didn't know what time it was, but considering he was still tired, it must be early. There wasn't an alarm, so there wasn't a monster attack, so she probably just couldn't sleep. It seemed like her to ruin his sleep if he didn't get any.

His thought track of how to get her to leave quickly was ruined when she hit him in the head with a pillow. "Come on! You must be awake now!"

He grumbled something incoherent, so she hit him again, before gasping. "Sorry! That's not hurting you, is it? I just meant to wake you…"

Gorou sat up, wiping his face. "You got me up the first time. What is it? Did your favourite anime get renewed for another season?" he asked, yawning. She hit him again.

"Now that I know you're fine, you need to get dressed. We're going somewhere." Natsumi threw a shirt at him that had been draped over the end of his bed, Gorou catching it.

"Where would this somewhere be?" He said, slipping it on. "Downstairs."

"A bit further afield than downstairs." She smiled, leaving the room for him to get dressed.

After about five minutes, Gorou stumbled out of his room, wearing his usual black jacket- considering all he had was copies of that jacket, Natsumi though it was bad that she could tell it was the same one he'd worn for the last few days. "You know, you do have more than one set of clothes."

Gorou waved her off, slowly walking to the kettle. "I don't care. They'd be the wrong brand anyway…" Natsumi sighed, grabbing his hand and pulling him towards the door. "Don't I have time for tea?"

"No- they were expecting us ten minutes ago. Come on!" The pair made their way out of the door and into the elevator without Natsumi speaking again. "Did you have a good sleep?"

Gorou yawned to emphasize his point. "It would have been better if you had let it finish. What time is it anyway?"

"It's three in the morning."

Gorou looked at her smiling face. "And yet you are not exhausted. How?"

Natsumi just continued to smile. "I could tell you, but I don't think you're awake enough to understand." She laughed slightly at the groan that followed. "Don't worry- you can sleep on the way there." She patted his head, still laughing, and he didn't care enough to stop her.

The elevator stopped, and the two got out into the cold air of the night. "Did they just use all the spy movie clichés when they were making this place?" Gorou remarked, stepping out into the alley. "Secret elevators, an inventor in the basement, and a crazy 'bodyguard' to make sure you don't sneak off." He said 'bodyguard' differently, patting Natsumi on the head as he did, with her pushing his hand away, trying to keep her hair straight.

"I doubt you need a body guard, Gorou-kun. You do fight some evil monsters."

"I've fought two, so far, and both times I've nearly died. Yes, I can handle myself so well." Gorou said, obviously trying to be sarcastic.

Natsumi led him to the back of a black off-road car parked at the front of the building. From what Gorou could see, before he was pushed in, it looked battered and mud-covered, and had obviously been well used in the past. Natsumi got into the passenger's seat, next to a man in a suit who sat in the driver's seat.

"Would you like some tea?" Gorou turned to his right side to see Oshiro sitting there, sipping tea from a small china cup, a thermos tucked by his side.

Gorou nodded his head, smiling at the old man. "Thank you. It's not going to knock me out, is it?"

Oshiro smiled. "I told you- I didn't want to do that, but I got forced to. This, I promise you, is nothing but my own special blend of tea, designed to make you feel as awake as possible while still being a pleasure to drink." He passed Gorou his own china cup while speaking, and poured him some of the brown tea.

Gorou bowed his head slightly, and started to sip at the liquid. It tasted fine- nice, even- and he drank a bit more. "Do you like it?" Oshiro asked, eyes twinkling even in the very dim light of the moon and the street-lights outside.

He took a large gulp of it- even as it burned the back of his throat; he had to admit it tasted good. "Yes, but at this point, I'd have been happy with pure caffeine to keep me awake."

"Good- now, how much do you know about the Ruins of Joji?" Oshiro asked, sipping some of his own tea as they continued along the road.

"I'm going to guess that's our destination?" Gorou asked, looking out the window to see them taking a road out of the city.

"You don't know? Natsumi-chan was supposed to tell you…" He turned his head to stare at Natsumi, who simply answered, "I didn't have time to tell him anything. It took him far too long to get up."

"You mean you couldn't tell me in the elevator?" Gorou asked, but Oshiro quieted him with a motion of his arm.

"It doesn't matter- I can tell you myself. The place is an abandoned house in the forest. There are a series of strange rock formations that surround the house- we don't know which came first, but we would guess the house, considering the state of the rocks. The house was considered to be haunted, and so the circle of rocks became known as a 'gateway to another world' by the locals of a nearby village. It used to be a tourist spot, but that's dried up recently, since there isn't much of a road to get there."

"Which explains why we're in an off-roader." Gorou interrupted, but Oshiro just continued.

"Anyway, recently we've detected strange energy readings coming from it- recently meaning in the last week or so- so we've started excavation in the area, but we're not sure what we'll uncover. Which is why we need you." Oshiro looked at Gorou while refilling his cup, his thermos running dry halfway through. "Oh dear."

"You need me here in case you found a new monster, don't you?" Oshiro nodded at this, which made Gorou think of another question. "Do most monsters come from ancient ruins? Are they aliens from another dimension?"

"Well…" Oshiro looked slightly embarrassed at this. "We don't actually know where they come from. We know they are related to some form of anti-human group, but we don't actually know how they create the monsters."

Gorou hit his face with his empty hand. "It's a good job I brought my driver then, if you're about to release another monster on us." He checked for it in his jacket pocket, and when he felt it with a single gem, the other being tested on further, he smiled. "See Natsumi. It helps to only have one set of clothes."

Natsumi, unseen to the pair in the back, rolled her eyes, watching the outside world become even darker as they left the main road, driving onto a small forest road.

"You two might want to finish your tea before you spill it all over." She said, feeling the car jolt to the side.

Gorou gulped down his tea, now feeling fully awake, while Oshiro just smiled. "Natsumi-chan, only an amateur would drop their tea from a simple shaking." He sipped his tea, his hand keeping the cup steady.

"How long will it take to get there?" Gorou asked after a few minutes of silent driving, no-one wanting to break the spookiness of being on a lonely forest road.

"About five minutes, I think, and then a ten minute walk…" Natsumi said, sounding distant. "I remember coming here when I was a kid. It really wasn't fun."

This was followed by another silence, until the suited driver spoke up, his voice sounding the opposite of expected- fairly high and not-at-all threatening. "I hope you know the way, Oshiro-san. I've been told to head back to base after dropping you off."

Oshiro nodded slowly, looking at the dark outdoors. "It will be fine. Nothing I say can you make you stop anyway, can it?"

"No sir."

"I thought not." The driver parked them in a small clearing that had been turned into a makeshift car park, in which they could see a few other vehicles, similar to theirs. Oshiro got out of the car, taking his empty thermos, followed by Gorou and Natsumi. The car drove off as soon as they closed all the doors, leaving them alone in the light of the moon.

The trio found a small dirt path leading through some forest that looked slightly less dense than the surrounding area, and started walking along it.

"Could you not have set up some lights along the way?" Gorou asked. "You know, in case the moon wasn't out," he added, rather quickly.

"This operation, Gorou-kun, is supposed to be secret. Lighting the path to it wouldn't make it very secret, would it?" Oshiro said, walking rather quickly along the path.

Natsumi elbowed Gorou gently in the side, with them both falling slightly behind. "I didn't think the Kamen Rider would be scared." She said, sounding nervous herself.

He smiled slightly, not covering his fear at all. "Going to a haunted house early in the morning in pitch-black darkness? Possibly to face an evil monster that I might not be able to see that well, let alone fight? No, why would I be scared at all?"

They both smiled genuinely at that, only to be knocked back into normality by a scuffing sound up ahead.

"Oshiro-san, what was that?" Natsumi asked, stopping in her tracks.

"That… would be me." A man's voice rang through the forest. It sounded threatening and official. "Considering that you just mentioned Oshiro-san here, I presume you're with him and are not some random tourists here to make out in the abandoned house."

"No!" "Never!" The two shouted at him, suddenly splitting apart, Gorou hitting his head again and Natsumi starting to laugh.

"Come on through, Kamen Rider." He said this curtly, with disguised malice in his voice. "And his assistant."

As they went through, they noticed that the man was wearing a camouflage uniform, a gun is his hands. "Why do you have a gun?" Natsumi asked, tilting her head.

"In case of an attack. Because that worked out so well the first time." He spat the words out, turning away from them. "Oshiro-san is waiting ahead. You shouldn't leave him waiting. And perhaps I'll get a break, not that the great Kamen Rider's here."

The pair hurried on, slightly confused. "Who is he?" Gorou asked, once he guessed they were out of earshot.

"I presume he's a member of the combat division. They were originally planned to fight the monsters, but-"

"I know what happened... Oshiro-san told me last time I saw him." Gorou remembered being told about the people that the spider-creature had killed before his first fight, how their weapons had stood no chance against it, how it had killed five of them…

"He may have been there… there was a full complement of twenty, so I think there were three uninjured." Natsumi answered, sounding hollow.

The two continued in peace, not really wanting to talk now, until they found a small excavation site. It was fairly well lit, but the lights were blocked by large boards placed opposite them, on the other side of the dig. Oshiro stood at the side, watching people work in the hole. A bearded head poked above the hole, holding onto the top rung of a ladder, and Gorou sighed. It was his favourite person that he knew.

The engineer sighed loudly too, making sure that Gorou heard. "Oshiro-kun, I told you to keep this boy away from me. Too much stupid hurts my workflow."

Oshiro smiled, ignoring his complaint. "Have we found anything yet?"

The engineer rolled his eyes. "Natsumi-kun? I need your help, at least."

"Coming boss!" She ran over, taking some equipment out of his hand as he pulled himself over the lip of the dig.

"It doesn't appear to be a monster burial site, or spawning pool, or anything similar. The energy reading appears to be coming from a small, concentrated region, and considering it was powerful enough to transmit through several metres of solid rock, I've concluded that it is probably another gem."

Oshiro broke into a massive smile at this news, laughing from happiness. "A third gem?"

"I hate to break up the happy news…" Gorou started to speak, but was cut off by the engineer.

"Then don't. We don't need you and your depressing news at the greatest discovery of the year."

Gorou continued anyway. "But what are the chances that, only a week or two after the monsters start arriving and someone becomes a Kamen Rider, this gem starts sending out energy that you can pick up?"

"The gems can interact with each other." The engineer began to speak, looking at readings on the equipment Natsumi was holding. "Presumably, your gems being active in the Driver caused a reaction in this one, causing it to become slightly active." He turned back towards Oshiro-san, mind set on his mission. "We should have it extracted within the hour."

"Can it be used with the Rider system?" Oshiro asked, looking around at the dark wood.

Sighing, the engineer stroked his beard. "Maybe after a few weeks of testing, perhaps, but not straight away. We don't know exactly how powerful it is- if it shorts out the driver, your only weapon disappears, and we're out on a massive limb. Plus, it may have some other use."

Oshiro nodded, moving over to a small chair at the edge of the pitch. Gorou moved to stand next to him, keeping away from Natsumi and her boss. "And why am I here?"

"You, Gorou-kun, are here in case we are attacked. After all, if we can find this signal, then the other group presumably can too, especially if they possess advanced bio-engineering equipment."

"And Natsumi-chan?" Gorou didn't know why he was asking about the girl who annoyed him to no end, but at least this time he had a reason for why she was here constantly talking.

"She is here to help her boss with determining the readings of the gem."

"She doesn't seem to be helping very much," Gorou noticed, watching her switch between meters as the engineer read the different results.

"It's not my place to judge." He took a sip of tea from his cup, a kettle beside him just having finished boiling. "Except with tea. This tea is not very good."

Gorou looked away, watching the surroundings. "Are there many people with guns here? It seems kind of… pointless."

Oshiro looked at him, smiling sadly. "It is necessary that we keep this a secret. And if human operatives are sent to intercept the gem, then we feel it better to leave the… removal of those to trained men, rather than you."

"And if another creature shows up?"

Oshiro didn't answer this time, only taking a sip of tea. "We have you now. And you can take care of it." It sounded like he was trying to convince himself now, rather than answer Gorou.

* * *

After a few minutes, Natsumi came over, still carrying a few pieces of equipment. "The boss says we should have it out in about half an hour, considering the rock layers surrounding it." The trio heard a large drill start up, and followed by its squeal as it started drilling into the rock.

"Really subtle…" Gorou said, as Natsumi dropped her head in exasperation, and Oshiro continued to drink his tea.

The trio sat there for the time, occasionally moving to see how the drill was progressing, Gorou getting dirt thrown at him whenever he went to see, though he couldn't see where it was coming from. When the half hour was up, they heard the drill power down, an eerie silence settling over the area. "Did we find the crystal?" Oshiro asked, moving over to the hole, the bottom of which was dark- even though the drill had been moved from the bottom, there was no way of seeing past it, except for the occasional flash of torchlight.

"I said-"

"I know what you said. It's a tiny gem in the middle of a fairly large crater." The Boss shouted upwards, his voice echoing off the sides of the tunnel.

"Don't they glow?" Gorou asked, looking at his own red gem.

"Not enough to see through the inch-or-so of solid rock we left so we didn't shatter the end of the drill," was the reply given.

"Can't you locate it from the energy pulses?" Natsumi asked, looking down uneasily.

"The scanner isn't that precise, otherwise-" He suddenly stopped talking, and the three heard frantic digging.

"Would that be the gem?" Oshiro asked patiently.

No answer came in words, but the ladder to the bottom of the tunnel started shaking, obviously showing someone climbing up. After a few seconds, the engineer reached the top, holding a green gem, slightly smeared in dirt. "Oshiro-san, ladies," he said, nodding his head at Gorou on the ladies, "we now have a third crystal in our possession."

* * *

The momentous occasion was ruined when the group heard gunshots coming from the perimeter. They looked in the direction, unable to see what was happening.

Gorou reacted first, grabbing the green crystal and running in the direction of the shots. "Get back here!" The Boss shouted, not bothering to follow him. Oshiro watched him run, and Natsumi ran after him, but was stopped by Oshiro grabbing her shoulder.

"It's not safe for you to go with him, Natsumi-chan. All we can do for now is watch." He sounded sad, watching him run.

Gorou ran towards the sound, seeing the man he had met earlier fire at a target that was slowly approaching. The man was shouting loudly, screaming at the approaching monster, the light on the front of his gun showing a lanky figure take all the bullets, direct to the chest. Despite this, it didn't seem to be faltering.

"I've got this!" He shouted, putting on his driver. This seemed to alert the monster more than any of the shots had, with it starting to run towards the two, squawking like a chicken. Gorou laughed slightly- if he died this time, at least it would be a good story to tell at his funeral. 'He died to a giant chicken.'

The man, meanwhile, had ran out of bullets, and was changing his clip. "No you don't. Stay back, I don't want to shoot you." He shouted at Gorou, who was still approaching, the monster quickly closing in on them.

"Get back! It'll kill you!"

"But not you?" He shouted back, looking up from changing the gun to see the monster barely two metres away. He raised his gun, but was pushed out of the way by Gorou, who had barrelled into him, barely missing the monster's strike with its hand talons.

"Stay back." Gorou said, pushing him as he stood up, slotting his red gem into the slot of his driver, the beast staying back, trying to think of a plan of attack. _"Fire"_ The driver announced.

"Henshin!" He shouted, closing the driver's bay, making a red sphere appear around him, accompanied by his usual black suit. Red pieces of armour attached to his suit, and the sphere faded, leaving Gorou standing there, ready to fight.

The chicken rushed at him as soon as the transformation was done, slashing at his chest. Gorou blocked them, and swung around, but the minster dodged it, aiming a punch at his.

Gorou attempted to block, but the monster was strong, and his arms were simply pushed back, his chest feeling pained from the attack. He tried to punch back, but the chicken leapt into the air, wings unfolding from its back, and it landed a short distance away. Gorou ran at it, intending to punch it, but it jumped again, making him run into a tree.

"It really doesn't help that I can't see very well…" He said out loud, seeing the monster land a small distance away. Suddenly, he felt blinded as a light pointed straight at him from the site- it was still obscured somewhat by the trees, but he could see much better. "I guess I owe them one for that."

His attention was dragged back to the fight by the loud squawk of the monster, shielding its face with its huge claws. Gorou took his chance- he ran at it, punching it in its pale, feathered chest. It fell backwards, and Gorou struck at it again, this time swinging at its arm, knocking it to the side. The monster clawed at him as it moved, catching his left arm. He grimaced in pain, dodging as the creature stuck at him with its feet, the talons on those looking just as sharp as the ones on its hands. It flapped its way into the sky again, landing in a tree, heading towards the others.

Gorou grimaced. He couldn't hit it from here, and if he tried to get up the tree, he'd be vulnerable. He pressed the top button on his driver, summoning a ball of flame into his hand. He shot it at the creature, but it just moved out of the way a small amount, the fireball dissipating in the air behind it. It was at this point that he wished he had his blue gem- a gun could come in useful here. But instead, he had this new green one. He pulled it out, keeping a watch on the creature though, making sure it didn't move. "May as well try it…" He said, opening his driver with the lever, and switching out the red gem with the untested, unused green one. _"Wind,"_ it announced, telling Gorou what element he could use. Glancing up, he saw the creature move to another tree, towards his friends.

"Not going to happen." Gorou shouted, quickly slamming the core shut, not caring about the consequences. A green sphere surrounded him, his red armour shattering as usual. New, green armour formed from the skin of the sphere, giving him new, more lightweight armour around his shoulders and chest. The sphere faded, leaving Gorou watching the creature, it unmoving, confused by Gorou's new change.

He pressed the top button on his driver, hoping that he could blow the creature out from the tree and into arms reach. _"Wind," _it announced again, and he felt a swirling sensation at his feet, feeling himself float into the air slightly. "This could work…" He muttered, sending a pulse of air through his feet to push him towards the chicken, at high speed. He held out his fists, aiming at the creature's body. It squawked loudly, trying to dodge, but couldn't move, one of its talons caught on a branch. Both of his fists hit it, knocking it out of the tree and to the ground. Gorou dropped down next to it, landing slightly more gracefully on his hands and knees. He stood up, moving to punch the creature as it tried to stand up- it was obviously weaker, as it couldn't push him away this time. It did get him, however, when it sliced at him with one of its legs, the talon catching his leg and pushing him backwards. The creature started stumbling away, slowly trying to move to the ruins. He fell back, watching the chicken stand back up, spreading its wings. He ran at it, despite his pain, and punched it in the back, it spinning round to slice at him. He dodged it, feeling more agile that with his other forms, and pushed the creature, it falling from its own momentum. He kicked it backwards, and it was pushed back with a squawk.

Gorou grinned in his helmet, despite his pain. He knew that it was nearly over. He pressed the lowest button on his driver, feeling the air gather around his feet in a swirling vortex. He ran at the chicken creature, jumping into the air at the right time, feeling the vortex pushing him high up.

"Cyclone Kick!" He shouted, hoping that the Boss would hear him. The air pushed him faster as fell through the air, gravity propelling him to high speeds. He aimed at the monster with his right foot, and collided with it as hit foot started to glow with energy, exploding it almost instantly.

* * *

At the ruins, the three people watched as they saw the explosion, with Gorou directly in the centre. Natsumi closed her eyes, Gorou looked away, and the Boss crossed his fingers, then remembered that the gems were there, uncrossing his fingers. Then he remembered that they were indestructible, and he re-crossed them.

Natsumi flicked her eyes open to see what had happened, and smiled, opening them fully, watching Gorou walk towards them, unharmed. He looked around, and then returned to normal, his armour shattering. He ran back to the group, holding the green gem towards the Boss.

"I believe this is yours." He said, smiling. "By the way, I should tell you that it holds the 'power of the wind', and all that other stuff." The Boss took it, frowning.

"Congratulations. You could have easily blown yourself to pieces by using this untested gem with your driver. You were lucky it was at the same power level as your current ones." He said, turning away to return to the drill, where it was being packed up by some of the other people at the site.

"I'm glad you're alright!" Natsumi hugged him, Gorou pushing her away, not really wanting it.

"Me too." He said, smiling as she let go. She was smiling as well.

He watched as the soldier from earlier walked past them, checking his dismantled gun. "You alright?" He asked, but the soldier ignored him, continuing along his path. Gorou sighed- he obviously had his own issues.

Natsumi smiled at him. "Oshiro-san, this has been very interesting, but do you mind if we get back home? I'm fine, but I think Gorou-kun's getting tired."

The old man nodded, starting to walk away. "That's a good idea. Even though the sun is rising, so you shouldn't really be tired." He pointed at the horizon, and Gorou sighed again. "Isn't it beautiful?"

"Very much, but I'm tired." Gorou yawned as if to express his point.

"Very well then. I believe we're finished here anyway." Oshiro started walking away, and the pair followed him, walking directly into the sunset.

* * *

I hope you enjoyed! I am taking some inspiration for the design of the power set from Kamen Rider Wizard, so anyone who's seen that may be able to guess what the next chapter will be based around! As always, please review- they make me much happier than they probably should- and reccomend! Until next time, goodbye!


	4. Getting Involved

_Disclaimer Time! I do not own the Kamen Rider name, but all characters are original. Kamen Rider is owned by Toei. Enjoy!_

"Do you actually have a name, beyond 'The Boss'?" Gorou sat on a desk, throwing and catching a small piece of machinery in his hands. He was watching the engineer work as he examined the new gem with a strange piece of equipment, the results being fed into a computer.

"Do you have anything better to do?" He replied, switching to another scanner.

"Not really. Natsumi-chan is out for the day, and I've been 'asked' not to leave the building." His voice went darker on the last part of the sentence, with him making it clear that he wanted to leave.

"Considering the last time you were let out, you stole this gem and almost killed yourself, I'm not surprised." He replied slowly, focusing more on his work. "Although you didn't listen then, so why are you listening now?"

"Considering they all but said I'd be shot if I stepped outside, I do have a reason to do what they say… for now."

"All but said?"

"I don't think they would have had any other reason to bring up the armed guards when they were speaking to me…" He trailed of as he missed the catch, the small metallic object falling to the ground with a large, resounding clang. The Engineer sighed loudly.

"I still think you should ignore them. I'm sure the great Kamen Rider will be unaffected by a few bullets." He mocked Gorou, picking up the small object. "Oh, and thank you for messing about with this. I'm glad you asked me about playing with it, so I could warn you it was explosive."

"So you're saying I could have had my hands blown off?" Gorou shouted, his eyebrows shooting up.

"No, no. This thing is designed to be a bullet's able to pierce a beast's outer armour, so you'd probably have lost an arm. I was slightly hopeful." The engineer said, not hinting if he was sarcastic or not.

"Nice to know you care for me so much." Gorou shot back sarcastically.

"I thought you knew." The Engineer said, disassembling the thing slowly

"You make me feel so safe, you know that?" Gorou asked, getting up.

"If you find someone who cares, please let me know." He said, throwing a small bolt at Gorou. He caught it, and threw it away. "Although I should thank you for one thing; your arms remaining probably means that I probably need to improve the impact sensors."

Gorou sighed. "Fine. I get it. You want me gone."

"What tipped you off?" He said, pressing a button on his desk, opening the door. "The constant remarks, or my general attitude towards you?"

Gorou just walked out, ignoring him.

"Finally. Some peace." The engineer said, just as an alarm sounded, indicating another attack. He sighed, keeping his head down as Gorou ran past him to the motorcycle garage. He wheeled his chair across to his larger desk, monitors booting up to track Gorou's vital signs and Driver function. "I suppose I spoke too soon…"

* * *

The horned monster was destroying a market stall with its fists, people fleeing in all directions when Gorou sped through the crowds, helmet on, heading straight towards it. Hearing the roar of the bike's engine, the monster turned, only to be rammed by Gorou, hitting it through the shredded stall and into a brick wall, the creature roaring in pain and Gorou tumbling to the floor. He used the momentum to spin to his feet, rubbing his now-sore arm.

"That had seemed better in my head." He said, pulling out his blue gem, and sliding it into his driver. 'Water', his driver announced.

"Henshin!" Gorou shouted, transforming into his blue armoured state. He summoned his gun from his belt, pointing and shooting at the creature as it rose to his feet, both of them closing in on each other. The creature roared loudly, suddenly rushing towards him, curled horns bared. Gorou tried to move out of the way, but the creature's large, bulky arm grabbed him, and the beast slammed into a wall, Gorou first, crushing through into the small shop. Gorou fell back, coughing, the breath having been knocked from his lungs. That, unsurprisingly, had hurt.

Gorou moved back, warily. The creature eyed him, snorting. It looked ready to charge at any moment, and Gorou had dropped his weapon when he had been grappled. He didn't think it would have worked anyway, considering the thick fur covering the creature's body, and how it had charged him earlier. The pair froze for several seconds, staring at each other.

"Gorou-kun! Catch!" The beast spun in the direction of Natsumi's voice and roared, a gun flying over its head as she started running, still shouting words Gorou wasn't listening to. The beast charged, following her. Gorou reacted quickly, panicking slightly, catching the gun and shooting it in the back. It flinched slightly but didn't veer from its course, charging after the young girl. Gorou started running after them, shooting wildly, unable to aim properly while running, yelling, and trying to distract the creature. "Over here, you dumb idiot! Get back!"

Gorou got lucky- one of his shots landed in the centre of the beast's neck, where its fur was thinnest. It roared, turning around slowly to stare at the rider. Gorou quickly looked behind it- Natsumi had collapsed in a building, gasping for breath. He cursed quietly in his helmet, but didn't say anything. He had to finish this monster first.

Slowly, keeping eye contact, he reached for his driver, pressing the bottom button. The gem glowed, and Gorou felt vapour start gathering around his left hand, swirling to form a solid mass of water, his hand glowing beneath it. "Torrent-"

The ram reacted to the noise, charging straight at Gorou, barrelling towards him, quickly closing the small distance between them.

"Punch!" Gorou shouted quickly, striking at the monster when it almost collided with him. He felt his arm pulse with energy from the backlash, the punch not having fully charged, throwing him backwards as the monster was forced the other way, a blue explosion occurring between them, smoke flooding the area.

After a few seconds, Gorou got to his feet, his arm still sore from the backlash. In his other hand, he held his gun, aiming in the general direction that the creature had been in, still unable to see it. As the smoke slowly cleared, he saw the creature lying on the ground, groaning animalistically and trying to rise to its feet. Gorou slowly began to walk over, being careful for once so he wasn't caught unaware.

"Let's try this again, shall we?" He said, fairly quietly. "Torrent-"

Before he could press the button on his belt, there was a loud screech from above, and as he looked up, Gorou was knocked backwards by an impact, throwing him away from the beast and towards Natsumi's hiding spot. He braced for impact, hoping he wouldn't hit her as he smashed through the thin wall, slamming to a stop in the other side, his armour shattering as his suit dissipated. By the time he could open his eyes, the pain low enough so that he could focus, the scene in front of him was different; the beast had been replaced by a small ring of fire, surrounding the area where it had collapsed. Gorou swore loudly, both from the failure and from the pain. He collapsed to his knees, then onto his back, his whole body aching.

Natsumi chose that time to start talking.

"Gorou-kun? What the heck was that?" she said, walking slowly over to him, looking over his injuries. His jacket had been torn from sliding down the wall, and his left arm was bruised, both from the impact and the backfiring attack.

"I have no freaking idea…" Gorou groaned out through gritted teeth. "You should have been able to see it…"

"There was just a shadow, like a bird or something, and then there was a burst of fire from the sky…" Natsumi said, looking at the now-empty scene.

"And how did that thing disappear? It didn't look like it was going anywhere when I got there…"

"I would have been able to see, but I was too busy trying not to get hit in the face by you." She said, sitting down next to him. "How do you feel?"

"Perfectly fine…" He said, the sarcasm biting through his words as he grimaced in pain.

"Sarcasm isn't going to help you right now, Gorou-kun." Natsumi said, moving his sleeve to look at the full extent of his injuries. Gorou groaned in pain, unable to push her away.

"You'd be surprised how it's actually really useful, Natsumi-chan." He groaned out, his vision going fuzzy. "Aren't you going to phone for an ambulance or something?" He asked groggily.

"No need." She mumbled. "The Boss has a monitor linked up to your vital signs back at headquarters, so he should notice you being injured like this, as well as you being forced out of the armour, and send some help."

"You do realise how much he hates me, right?" He mumbled, starting to slip into unconsciousness.

Natsumi realised this, and started to talk loudly, wanting to keep him awake. "Why would he hate you?"

"He told me he did…"

"I'm sure he's just joking. He doesn't hate anyone else."

"I'm pretty sure what you mean is that he doesn't like anyone in general." Gorou said, remembering their conversation earlier.

"He likes me," Natsumi said, reaching over to her bag she had and taking out some bandages.

"I don't believe you." He replied, slightly perking up when he heard the sound of an engine outside, small sirens accompanying it.

"If he hates you, why would he send help?" Natsumi asked, grabbing his arm as he reached it out.

"Because…" Gorou slowly stood up, leaning heavily on her, watching as a pair of medic's wandered over, "Oshiro-san would kill him if he let me die." The medics smiled falsely, taking Gorou from Natsumi, carrying him over to the ambulance.

As they drove away, Natsumi noticed Gorou's motorcycle at the edge of the clearing. She smiled slightly, remembering that she did technically have a bike licence.

* * *

Oshiro sighed, looking at the smiling Natsumi across his desk. "Dare I ask why you were in the area, Natsumi-chan?"

"I was in the area, getting some food, when that monster showed up. I started getting people away from it when I heard Gorou-kun arrive. I thought he might need some help-"

"Despite me asking you not to interfere in his battles?" Oshiro asked, reading a piece of paper, and occasionally looking up at her. "For your own sake?"

"Oshiro-san, if I hadn't interfered, Gorou-kun would have lost." Natsumi said, her smile being lost as well.

"You don't know that- he still had the Fire Gem, and perhaps that would have been more effective."

"You didn't see his situation- if he'd moved, the beast would have charged into him and had him against a wall before he would have been able to switch the gems." Natsumi explained, sounding annoyed at the old man's stubbornness.

"That still doesn't excuse you getting involved." Oshiro frowned and shook his head, patronisingly.

"Would you rather Gorou-kun die, then?" Natsumi shouted loudly, her voice becoming shrill and piercing. She swept her arm across Oshiro's table, combing it free of papers. "I know you can't find another rider, despite your claims otherwise, so you'd think you might care a little more about him!" She put her hands to her face, trying to calm down, gasping in panic.

Oshiro looked taken aback, an eyebrow raised at her sudden outburst. Despite this, he still waited for her to calm down, her breathing returning to normal after a few minutes. She looked around awkwardly, blushing slightly, her eyes betraying her actual sadness. "I-I'm sorry sir. I guess I should hand in my resignation now?" She asked, her voice hollow for once, rather that its usual perky tone.

Oshiro smiled slightly. "Why would I ask for that?" He said, collecting his papers from, the floor. Natsumi tried to help, but Oshiro pushed her away slightly, and she took a seat close to the door. When he was done, he stacked them up and put them in the corner of the desk. "A single, deserved tantrum against a rather obstinate old man shouldn't lead to a promising young woman being left upon the street. Besides, I doubt human resources would let me fire you." He beamed at Natsumi, her face unchanging.

"But sir-"

"When did I become 'sir', Natsumi-chan? You know I dislike the word, and if you feel the need to safeguard your job, I just told you I won't fire you. I don't even blame you for snapping."

This time, Natsumi looked slightly taken aback, and when she spoke, a little of her usual tone slipped back in. "Why don't you blame me? You seem to disagree with me about today…"

"Natsumi-chan, I wanted to see why you rushed to help him. If it was for simple egotism and heroism- so you could help save the day instead of the 'Kamen Rider'- I would have asked you to leave my office. I don't want someone so self-centred supporting the one person who risks himself so you don't need to go into battle."

"However, given the passion with which you defend your cause, I am satisfied that you only involved yourself so that Gorou-kun could formulate a plan to defeat the creature- not for self-gain, or for recognition, but because you saw no other option that didn't result in his death. This means I have no reason to ask you to leave. The fact that you care so much for someone you have known for barely a month means that I should probably give you some form of bonus!" Oshiro smiled kindly at her, like a grandfather smiling fondly at a grandchild, and Natsumi, eventually, smiled slightly herself.

"I don't know if you understand why I chose you for this job, Natsumi-chan. I asked you to be Gorou-kun's partner because I knew that you would be able to absorb his many, many criticisms without snapping his neck." Natsumi chuckled slightly at this. "And because I have no doubt that, eventually, he'll have to make a terrible choice, or he'll fail to save someone, and he'll need someone."

"And you think I'll help?" Natsumi asked, smiling slightly. "When he seems to find me and my happy attitude just as annoying as everything else?"

"I think he likes you more than he lets on. Even if he doesn't, he has someone to vent his emotions to, someone more personal than anyone else that he knows will listen. Or at least, talk over him."

"I just hope he's alright. He seemed to be in a bad way when they took him away…"

"He'll be fine. A stay in hospital might be good for him- just to make sure that the battles aren't taking too much out of him." Oshiro paused for a few seconds, before coughing slightly. "Natsumi-chan? I have to ask- where did you see the information you mentioned earlier?"

"What information?"

"About Gorou being the only candidate… the only person able to use the driver?" Oshiro looked down at his desk, his eyes giving off a sad feel, his face suddenly taking on ten years.

Natsumi looked embarrassed suddenly, but still stared straight at Oshiro, determined not to let it show much. It wasn't working very well. "Boss left his DNA scan out with some annotations once. His DNA matches near precisely with a perfect user, and it says less than 1 in several million people has that link. It's not just a matter of him having no-one to miss him if he goes; it's a matter of him being the only person we know of that can use the driver."

Oshiro looked up, frowning, his eyes serious, his face still looking older than it should. "We can't let him know. We need him to focus on the mission, not worry about how doomed we are if he fails."

"I don't understand how making him feel expendable makes it better though." Natsumi asked, nodding slowly.

"It means he isn't as stressed as he rightfully should be, which makes it easier for him to fight." Oshiro sighed, and suddenly, instead of looking like an extremely old man with glaring eyes, he looked like a regular old man with kind eyes again. A communication panel buzzed on the corner of his desk, and Oshiro looked at it, smiling. "And I suggest you go and see him, considering he's just been finished with."

"Agreed!" Natsumi smiled as brightly as she could, getting up to leave, but she turned around before she did, a slight frown putting a dent in her otherwise bright mood. "I just have one more question, Oshiro-san. What was that thing that occurred at the end of the fight?"

Oshiro-san spun on his chair, so he was facing the other way. Natsumi, therefore, couldn't tell his facial expression when he spoke. "We have no idea, Natsumi-chan. The ground appears to be scorched, but for now, we have no idea what actually occurred that removed the monster from the field."

"You must have a theory-"

"I could say the same of you." Oshiro's voice was spoken in a calm and measured way, so Natsumi had no idea what he was feeling. "What do you think happened?"

Natsumi thought for a moment before speaking. "Maybe it was another anti-beast group. Given that this is the fourth such public attack, maybe someone else has figured out a way to kill them that we haven't considered."

"We would know if another such group exists, Natsumi-chan. Part of our organisation monitors the social media sites for those being formed, and there appears to be no such sign."

"Because I'm sure no groups ever existed before twitter," Natsumi smiled slightly at her own joke, walking halfway out the door before Oshiro spoke.

"I also have one more question for you, Natsumi-chan." He spun around in his chair, his face still blank. Natsumi paused, unsure of his tone. "How did you not trigger any of the bike's special 'modifications' while you were riding it here?" Oshiro smiled, obviously teasing her for her small amount of snark earlier. She laughed and left the office, heading for the medical bay.

* * *

Gorou was currently trying to leave, a pair of nurses blocking of the exit. His arm was in a bandage, and he wasn't wearing a top.

"You need to sit back down; you aren't fully checked over yet!" One of the nurses shouted at him as he tried to push past. Natsumi chose to put her head through the door at this moment, only to be elbowed in the face by the other nurse as they attempted to block his exit. She pulled back, groaning slightly from the pain.

The pair turned to look at her, the guilty one blushing, and Gorou took the opportunity, walking straight past them and out into the corridor, Natsumi following, apologising to the nurses for getting in their way. The nurses just looked at each other, sighing and agreeing it wasn't worth it.

"How are you feeling?" Natsumi asked, still rubbing her face

"Better." He said, looking at his arm. "I guess I should say thanks." He quietly grumbled as they reached the lift, pausing.

"Thanks for what?"

"Thanks for keeping me awake after that attack. Apparently, it really helped, or so say those 'doctors' back there." He smiled slightly at her, and she beamed back.

"You're welcome! I'm just glad you're not mad that-"

"Oh, I'm annoyed that you got between me and that monster, but you saved me, so I guess we're even." Gorou shrugged at her as the lift arrived, the pair getting in, Natsumi looking bemusedly at him.

"I saved you twice." Natsumi said. "Once with the distraction, and once with not letting you go unconscious. So I guess you owe me one!"

"I'll owe you one if you tell me that that Boss of yours has figured out where that Beast ended up."

Natsumi frowned. "Not yet…"

Gorou sighed loudly, rubbing his bandaged arm, trying to stifle the pain. "As long as it doesn't come back any time soon." Internally, they both grimaced. They knew that the alarm was about to sound just because they had said that.

Waiting in an awkward silence, Natsumi decided, inadvertently, to make it more awkward. "So, Gorou-kun! What's you plan now that your jacket got shredded?" Her friendly teasing was met with stone cold silence from Gorou, and she stopped the talking, the two going into their separate rooms when they reached their apartment, and watched TV in silence for the rest of the day, with the show occasionally being interrupted by a news bulletin for an 'underground explosion' in the marketplace. They both went to bed early, Gorou because he was tired, and Natsumi because she was sick of replaying the conversation with Oshiro over and over in her head. At least if she dreamed about it, she wouldn't remember it after.

Waking up the next morning, they realised that, perhaps they had both been wrong. This feeling only got stronger over the next week or so, as the two went about their business; Gorou mostly training, despite being told not to exert his arm, and Natsumi working on her usual job in engineering. There seemed to be an unspoken agreement not to talk to each other between them, despite the lack of anger or bad blood between them.

After five days, the pair were sat in their apartment, watching a new movie. Gorou rubbed his arm- the bandages had been removed earlier, but they had told him not to do anything more with it, even though he had been ignoring them all week. Natsumi looked at him and smiled, unable to keep quiet anymore.

"I see you've got a new jacket…" She smiled. Gorou turned to look at her, and smiled slightly.

"Yeah. It's identical to the last one I had…" He passed Natsumi some popcorn, and she ate it, both of the smiling.

"I've been busy all week. The Boss has me working on this new project by myself, which is good." Natsumi began to speak quickly, but Gorou cut her off by throwing a piece of popcorn at her.

"Calm down! I'm sure he won't be happy if you start telling me all about his secrets." Natsumi ate the popcorn, and then went back to talking.

"Good point. He doesn't like sharing all his secrets..." She said, thinking back to Oshiro's secret, considering whether to tell him. However, as if Oshiro could tell what she was thinking about, the alarm sounded, drowning out the film and making Gorou jump to his feet and run out of the door, Natsumi following.

When they entered the laboratory, the Boss already had his monitors set up, watching a CCTV feed from the area. It was grainy, but the ram monster from earlier was easily noticed, as it was rapidly moving around, as if it were trying to destroy several of the buildings at once.

"Did we see how it got there?" Nastumi asked, sitting at a table across the lab as Gorou ran onto his bike.

"No. We just picked it up a few moments ago. Then again, we have no idea where they usually come from, so there's no difference there." He said, both of them listening to the motorcycle to depart. "Now, let's see how he copes without you trying to get yourself killed." He said, turning to glare at her.

* * *

The ram monster was roaring, and the people in the buildings were screaming in panicked terror. It hadn't broken through yet, as it kept switching between them, but they all looked cracked and damaged. In a final roar, it readied its head, preparing a final assault, when it heard a motorcycle noise. Its not-very-intelligent brain remembered the noise vaguely, and it turned to face it, only to come face first with a motorcycle impact in the face, knocking it along the wall, into an open space slightly away from the buildings. Gorou ran up, pulling out his red gem.

"Are you trying to destroy your bike?" The Boss asked through the driver, sounding annoyed.

"At least that time I wasn't on it." Gorou opened the chamber, slotted in the gem, and pushed down the lever. "Henshin!"

His armour forming in the red sphere, the ram watched with anger, waiting for him to be defenceless. When it faded, the ram charged quickly, its horns starting to glow with energy. Gorou moved out of the way, and it charged straight past him, but it turned sharply, turning back around to face him. There was no chance to move this time, as it was far too close, and he was knocked backwards by a large burst upon impact. His armour survived, though, and he stumbled to his feet. He had landed on his injured arm, and it was hurting, though it didn't appear to be broken.

He summoned his sword from his belt, and held it in a defensive position. It didn't deter the beast, which started charging again, its horns lighting up the late-evening street. Gorou didn't try to dodge, knowing it was somehow faster than before. Instead, he just moved to the side at the last second, holding out his blade. The creature ran into it, pulling Gorou with him, the blade's blow being dampened by the wool of the creature. Gorou dug his heels in, and the blade cut through to the skin, the creature roaring in pain. It stumbled as Gorou's blade hit a more solid part, and spun to the ground. Its horns cut through the pavement easily, chunks flying everywhere. Gorou moved towards it, aiming his sword at a bare patch on its back, but it swung at his foot with a large paw, knocking him to his knees as it stood up, trying to kick at him. Gorou rolled away, spinning to his feet, only to be met with the creature charging again. He dived, but the creature, as before, spun in place, keeping its momentum and deadliness, It charged straight towards Gorou, who was pressing the bottom button on his driver. Which meant that it was charging at Gorou's blade. Gorou's very powerful, flaming blade. The creature ran straight into the blade, Gorou digging his heels in so he wasn't dragged along. "Inferno Slash!" The creature was sliced in half by the blade, its fur setting on fire, the street suddenly becoming much brighter as its entire body was set aflame. Gorou started walking away as it exploded.

All the people watching started screaming at the explosion, and Gorou realised that he should probably get out of there before the actual police arrived. He got back on his motorbike and rode away, not seeing the figure standing on top of one of the roofs, shrouded in darkness. No-one noticed when it flew away into the dark night.

* * *

When he got back, Natsumi was the only one there to greet him. "The Boss disappeared when you killed it. Said he had better things to do than listen to you get interviewed by some low grade police officers."

Gorou smiled slightly, removing the gem from his driver and returning to normal, cradling his arm. "I'm just glad he's not here to know I hurt my arm again. Maybe I should have listened to those medical people…"

Natsumi laughed slightly, and Gorou glared at her before smiling. "We should go see if they'll still treat you. And if not, go get Oshiro-san so he can force them to."

The two walked out, talking quietly.

Meanwhile, not in the city, a humanoid creature walked through a maze of caverns and caves, until they reached a large chamber. It was shaped like a circle, with a domed roof or black rock. The only light came from a small glow in the floor, surrounding a pedestal. On the pedestal was a statue, sat upon it. The statue seemed like a person at first glance, but upon closer inspection, problems began to arise with it. The hair appeared to be sculpted from quills and spikes. The skin was pitted, with small holes across the surface. Of the ragged clothes moulded into the rock, they appeared to be made from leather- thin, flaky leather, cut from a sickly cow. Its eye sockets were hollowed out, absorbing all light that came near them, despite the harsh glow from beneath them.

The creature moved closer to the statue's right flank, like a wary person approaching a threatening lion. It stood there, still. Minutes passed. Until, almost imperceptibly, the head began to turn. It sped up, the sound of grating rock filling the room, until the sockets were staring. A small glow began to fill them, green and sickly, until the statue was staring at the creature. The creature began to laugh. It was rough, and harsh, and inhuman. But it was a laugh.

* * *

I hope you enjoyed this! I probably won't update at all for a month or so, because of college work, so this cliffhanger will have to keep you going! As always, recommend and review! Until next time, goodbye!


	5. A Dark Science

_Disclaimer: I do not own Kamen Rider (Toei does) but the characters are mine. Which means, at some point, they will suffer._

"Inferno Slash!"

The red armoured creature was sliced in half by a flaming sword, its claws snapping wildly, but helplessly. It fell, exploding when it hit the ground, its lifeless dead eyes still not showing any emotion.

The source of the creature's sudden demise walked back towards the area of the explosion, having been pushed away from it due to the force of the blast and the direction he was going when he sliced the beast in half. The red warrior looked up at the sky, still a little wary after what had happened with the last one of these. It had been rescued by something from the sky that had put him in sickbay- granted, he thought, for nothing, but still, he'd rather not end up back there.

This lobster-y looking creature didn't seem to be as lucky, though. It had been the simplest mission yet- the area had been fairly empty from people, the creature hadn't been too much for him, and no forces from the sky had knocked him unconscious. If the next few were like this, he might be able to get some peaceful sleep for a few weeks.

His driver beeped, and an accented voice started speaking over it.

"You know, biolabs have told me to figure out a way to stop the things exploding when they die. They say that they could use some of its stuff to figure out new weapons or materials or something," The engineer said over the speaker, obviously only paying half (or less) of his attention to the rider considering the distracted tone in his voice.

"What did you tell them?" The warrior asked, removing the central gem from his driver. What was left after the armour shattered was a calm Gorou Sanagai, looking around for his motorbike, which the creature had tried to throw at him during their fight. It hadn't hit him.

"I told them you're so incompetent you'd figure out a way to blow them up anyway." He cut off the signal, and Gorou chuckled slightly, before finally spotting his bike. He started walking over to it, detatching his driver and putting it in his pocket in his jacket.

Something caught his eye as he walked. It was a small glow, like a torch being flipped quickly on and off. It was almost at the edge of his vision, but it was still noticed by his brain, and Gorou paused, not sure what to make of it. He turned his head to look for the source, but saw nothing. He examined it closely, scanning up and down with his eyes, still seeing nothing. He shrugged, and was about to walk off when a scuffling came from just to the right of the supposed location of the flash. Gorou span to look and saw the head of someone slipping down a slope, almost, but not quite, hidden by a bush.

Gorou followed as well as he could, pushing through the growth to chase the fleeing person. However, once he reached the shady bottom of the hill, he couldn't see a trace of them. No grass was crushed, no more noises were being made, and no sign could be seen of them. Gorou sighed- it was probably just some kid getting a picture or something. He knew he wasn't supposed to let anyone know about him, but taking care of this kid was someone else's problem now. He didn't see the point in sending an armoured warrior against a kid with a cell phone. He started making his way back up the hill and back to his bike, thinking the day was going slightly less well now.

* * *

"What did they look like, Gorou-kun?" Oshiro asked, the pair sitting in his office. He had his computer active on a desk, and was absent-mindedly taking notes as Gorou talked.

"I didn't see much of them, only the head. They looked kind of messy, though. Their hair was everywhere, but maybe that was just because of the bush he'd been hiding in." Gorou said, trying to remember.

"How old did they look?"

"I don't really have any idea. Older than about 10, maybe, but probably pretty young, considering how well they hid. What do you suppose they were doing?" Gorou asked- it was still bugging him slightly.

"Well, they were probably just after the publicity of a photo of the Kamen Rider. That's someone else's department that I am glad not to know much about." Oshiro sighed, his tone dark. "Let's just say that that photo probably won't last long."

"Could it have been someone interested in the monster?" Gorou asked. He'd had time to think about it, and considering he had no idea how long they'd been there, they could have photos of anything.

"No. No-one has interest in the monsters and the gems apart from us, Gorou-kun. Your picture would good in a hero article in the local paper or new site, while the monster would be useless, considering its dead now. You can't get an interview with a dead monster- or an alive one, considering their conversation skills." The old man took another sip of his tea, tapping a few more keys and sending off his report. "Anyway, that should be enough. I advise you go back to whatever it is you usually do around here."

Gorou stood up sighing. "That's not much," he growled, opening the door. "It usually involves the basement gym or television, considering the outsides is out-of-bounds."

Oshiro smiled sadly. "I'm sorry, but that decision's above my head. I'm sure we could let you out with Natsumi-chan sometime-"

"So basically with a guide to make sure I don't run off?" Gorou asked. Oshiro didn't answer, and Gorou just left through the door.

The old man sighed. "I don't blame you, Gorou-kun."

* * *

Natsumi, meanwhile, was at the store, buying technological parts for some gizmo she was building. She put down a part, muttering specifications under her breath. She picked up one next to it and put it in her basket. After doing this for a few more things, she bought the lot, and started walking out into the fairly empty, rainy street. She smiled, enjoying the feeling of the rain on her head. Her eye was caught by someone starting at her- a boy, standing at the end of the street. He looked about 19, but the discolouring He was wearing torn black clothes, had messy black hair, but his eyes were glowing blue. He blended into the background fairly well, and Natsumi wouldn't have noticed him if not for his eyes, directly fixated on her.

When he noticed her staring back at him, he turned and left down an alley directly behind him, and Natsumi followed, intrigued. When she got to the alley, she saw him standing there at the end, trying to hide in a shadow.

"Hello?" She asked tentatively. She wondered why he was staring- if he was interested in her, she could gently turn him down, and if he wanted to mug her, being hit in the head with a bag of metal parts hurt.

"What was that?" The boy asked, his voice deep and gravelly, but still inquisitive. That didn't stop it from sending some chills down her spine.

"What was what? I haven't done anything…" She replied, readying her hand. He didn't look like he would attack her, but he was facing away, so she couldn't see his face.

"That thing you did, with your face, when you were in the rain." He explained slowly, acting like Natsumi was an idiot. He quickly span to face her, and Natsumi swung with her bag. It hit him in the shoulders, and he was sent slamming into the wall, suddenly shouting in pain.

"Sorry!" She said, leaning in slightly to see him. He rose back to normal, still grimacing, but otherwise looking unharmed. "You aren't going to hurt me, are you?" She asked, keeping just out of reach.

"Why would I hurt you?" He asked, dusting off his shoulder, which was dusty from the impact. "You followed me."

"Because you were staring. People who stare don't usually have the best of intentions." Natsumi replied, slightly more at ease. While his manner didn't seem overtly threatening or dangerous, it didn't seem friendly either. It was cool.

"I was wondering what you were doing outside, in this rain. Especially the face you made."

"You mean smiling?" Natsumi asked, confused. The boy nodded once, turning around again.

"Yes, that. I had forgotten what it was called." He sounded happier now, as if he was glad to know,

"How could you forget about smiling?" She asked, smiling again for a reason she couldn't tell.

When he turned back to see her smiling again, he smiled himself. It wasn't big or bright, but it was there. He suddenly made a noise of pain, and grabbed his right kidney area, grimacing in pain.

Natsumi's eyes went wide, and she jumped over to help him. "Are you alright? Do you need me to look?"

"I'm fine." He responded, pushing her back weakly with his other hand. After a few moments, he stood back up, looking un-pained again. "You should leave." He said coolly, not making eye-contact with her.

"Not going to happen. I don't have anywhere else to be." Something had pricked Natsumi's suspicions with this person- there was something 'off' about him, and she couldn't tell what. With all the monster attacks, she supposed she should investigate any strange behaviour, however little chance there was of it being related to the attacks. "I'm Natsumi, by the way. And you are?"

He hesitated for a moment, obviously unsure. "My name… It's Akira." He said, nodding again. "I still think you should leave."

"And I already said I'm not leaving. Besides, we seem to be going the same way." She said, grabbing his arm and dragging him along. He didn't try to resist much, simply walking along with her.

"Where are you taking me?" He asked, with no worry in his voice- it was just a question like 'What time is it', rather than a panicked ask.

"I need one more supply, and then I was thinking about food. You up for that, Akira-kun?" She asked, letting go of his arm. She was fairly sure he wouldn't run.

"I-I have no money." He stumbled over his words, possibly surprised at how Natsumi was already talking to him as if they were close friends.

"I'll pay. I'd hate to see someone go hungry." She said, dragging him through the rain back towards the shops.

Half an hour later, the pair sat opposite each other at a small table, still drying, Natsumi hurriedly eating a small snack, and Akira holding a small drink. He looked more at ease than earlier, though still very awkward.

Natsumi looked up to see him staring at her again. "Do I have some on my chin?" She asked through a mouth of rice, the words coming out garbled. Akira smiled slightly, and then scowled, making a noise of pain.

"You sure you're alright?" She asked, hastily swallowing her food. "That's the second time that's happened. I can guess that's why you don't smile much, considering you don't even know the word."

Akira nodded. "That would be correct. You must be intelligent to realise that." He sounded distracted still. 'By the pain', Natsumi guessed.

"My knowledge lies with machines, not people. Although considering all the emotion you've shown, I guess that could apply to you, for all I know." She laughed slightly, Akira not joining in. It quickly died off.

"So what do you do?" Akira asked, sounding slightly invested this time.

"Electrics, mostly." For the first time in a long while, Natsumi stopped after only two words, not wanting to give away too much. This kid was still a stranger to be investigated, she reminded herself, not a friend.

"Is it interesting?" He asked, taking a sip of his drink.

"Sometimes. Well, most of the time. I really do love it." She smiled, but this time he didn't smile back. "What do you do, Akira-kun?"

He looked down at the table, not meeting her gaze. "Nothing."

She raised an eyebrow, her interest piqued again. "No college? No job? Nothing?"

"That is what I said." He replied coldly, looking up again.

"No, it's… it's fine." Natsumi said back, going back to eating her rice. After a few minutes of that in silence, the restaurant being empty apart from them, she spoke again. "What brings you to the town today?"

When there was no response, she continued anyway. "You said you have no money, and you don't seem to have bought anything already. I'd say you were out for the sun, but it was raining anyway."

"I like the rain." He said in response, cutting Natsumi off. She looked at him encouragingly, and, slowly, he began to speak. "I was out to get away from home. I just needed some space."

Natsumi's face took on a concerned look. "Are you alright there?"

He quickly shot down her concerns with, "It is fine. I just needed to go somewhere else for a while. Do you know how it is?" Natsumi nodded slowly in agreement. That was one of the reasons she had decided to leave today- mostly to get parts, but the Boss was in one of his moods, and Gorou had been practicing with his green form.

Her mobile phone suddenly rang, and when she picked it up to answer it, Oshiro's number was on the screen. "Sorry, I just need to take this…" She said to Akira, stepping up and going outside the restaurant to keep her privacy.

"Hello, Natsumi here."

"Natsumi-chan, we've got a bit of a situation." The old man sounded calm, but Natsumi had been around him long enough to know something was up. "It's about a possible leak."

"Leak? Who do you mean?" Her mind went over the people she knew- as far as she could guess none of them would leak anything.

"Gorou-kun was possibly photographed by a young child this morning. We don't think there was any harm meant in it, but the people at head office want any members of the organization to be on their guard, in case they're targeted."

Natsumi glanced back inside at Akira. He wasn't a young child, but he had been acting suspicious around her earlier. "Ok, Oshiro-san. I'll be careful. What do I do if, say, someone ambushes me?" She asked, trying to sound innocent.

"You shout for help, try and fight and hope someone calls us. Or you make sure to call us." His advice didn't sound very helpful, but she tried to sound appeased.

"Alright. Thanks for the warning. Do you think I'm in any danger?"

"I think, Natsumi-chan, that head office if over-reacting. There aren't any groups that want to hurt us- it was probably some foolish child on a dare. They were lucky that it didn't go worse for them."

"ALERT! ALERT!" Oshiro's voice was cut off by a harsh alarm, which made Natsumi jerk the phone away from her ear.

"Oshiro-san? What is it?" It didn't sound like the regular alarm, which intrigued her slightly."

"Natsumi-chan! Get out of there!" The old man shouted down the phone, sounding extremely panicked. "A beast has been detected extremely close to you! We've dispatched Gorou, but you could be in danger! Evacuate with as many pedestrians as you can!"

"But why the strange alarm?" She asked, moving into the restaurant swiftly to get Akira. She would have to leave the rest of her food, which was a shame. This place was nice.

"Does it matter?!" He shouted. She thought it did, but obviously not. "Just get out of there!" The signal was suddenly lost, and in the sudden quiet, Natsumi though she could hear the sound of something being smashed. Maybe she was just imagining it, she thought.

"Akira-kun, we need to go." She said quickly, grabbing her bags and pulling on his arm. He got up, still sipping his drink.

"Why?"

"A monster's attacking, and unless we want to die, we need to be as far away from it as possible." She said. She wasn't overly scared, having faced down a monster before, but she wasn't sure how he would react. Not to her surprise, he didn't seem to react at all.

"Very well," was his choice of words, and he followed her out of the building. The rain had gotten worse, building to the point of a storm, and it was hard to hear anything over the echoing sounds of hundreds of raindrops hitting the ground every second at high velocities.

"Which way?" He asked, shielding his eyes. Natsumi lead him left, intending to take him to a safe house. Even of that meant he ended up being questioned for being brought by her, at least he would be safe.

That plan was quickly dashed when her other friend, Gorou, was thrown through the wall in front of her, the glass windows shattering as his blue body crashed through them. On the other side of the two shop passageway which now existed stood a soaked, white beast. It looked like a whale, with thick skin and bloated appearance, and its arm ended in a corkscrewed staff, similar to a sword. If you squinted, it appeared to be similar to a narwhal. Natsumi was not about to squint at it, considering she had grabbed Akira and was running away, hoping it wouldn't follow them. Bellowing a low note, it began to do just that, running through the now-barren store fronts with ease, hitting Gorou in the face as he attempted to stand.

Gorou watched through blurred vision as his partner ran down the street, followed by the creature. Summoning his gun, he levelled a shot at a weak point on its neck and fired. When this did nothing, he scrambled to his feet, firing wildly. Enough of the shots hit that the creature paused in its pursuit, turning back towards Gorou. "Now that I've got your attention…" He started walking away from it slowly, firing at its face. It didn't respect Gorou's pace- it started running at full speed towards him, sword outstretched, not responding to the shots in pain. Gorou was forced to jump to the side to not be impaled, rolling back to his feet. He shot at the creature's chest, pushing it backwards.

Just as Gorou thought he was he was gaining the upper-hand, he was surprised. The creature swung its sword at him, a crescent of energy swinging through the air, straight at him. He jumped out of the way, but behind him, the energy curved and struck him in the back.

"Argh!" He shouted in pain, sparks flying from his suit. He lifted his arm to shoot, but the creature swung its sword again, and this time it hit him straight on. He shouted in pain, causing Natsumi to turn around and watch her friend. Akira turned too, intrigued by the shouting.

Gorou's armour shattered. He was left there, panting, driver emitting a small warning alarm. He swore loudly, obviously in pain. Natsumi stood there, unsure of what to do as the creature made a noise, sounding similar to laughter. It was taunting them. It slowly walked closer to Gorou's tired body, readying its blade. Natsumi couldn't fight it, and she knew there was no point in calling for back-up.

Which was why she was surprised when she saw a blur shoot from next to her, heading towards the creature. It took a second for her to realise it was Akira, running straight towards it. The creature was caught unawares. It was punched backwards by Akira with some force, hitting it away from Gorou. Natsumi ran over, looking shocked, staring at Akira. She helped Gorou to his feet as Akira stared down the creature, neither moving.

"Akira? What are you doing?" She asked, not receiving an answer.

"Aren't you the person from earlier?" Gorou coughed out, glaring angrily at him. Akira glanced back, frowning.

"I was told to watch you both. I didn't think I'd end up… distracted." He said, sounding distant. The creature readied its sword to slash at him, but Akira dashed forwards around the sword, hitting it in the arm, stopping its attack. It moved backwards warily.

"What do you mean 'watch us'?" Gorou asked, glancing at Natsumi. "What have you been doing with Natsumi?"

"He was staring at me… I didn't think he meant anything by it." She responded, still keeping her eye on the beast. "He seemed lonely and lost."

"So you thought you'd hang around with him?" Gorou asked, spluttering in surprise.

"I would not have harmed her. I was only told to watch, and I wouldn't have stayed with her if I had been able to leave." The beast rushed at him, and he punched it in the face, nimbly ducking from its blade. It continued towards the other pair, and Natsumi hit it with her bag, Gorou punching it with all his strength. It continued past them, bellowing, and the trio regrouped on the other side, Natsumi and Gorou behind Akira, who was facing away from them. The rain trickled to a halt as the group stood in silence.

"Who are you?" Gorou asked angrily, even if he didn't look that threatening supported by Natsumi.

Akira didn't answer, at least not in words. Instead, he summoned a thing from what looked like a pocket. It glowed black and it landed on his stomach, forming a black belt around his waist, with the glowing thing at the centre. He turned to look at the pair, and they could see his driver. And the gem inside it.

"I am that kaiju's worst nightmare."

He turned back to face the creature, which had grown a spine enough to bellow at them. It seemed apprehensive though, giving fearful looks at Akira, but especially the thing on his waist.

"What is the phrase, Sanagai-san?" He asked, crossing his arms over his circular driver.

"You should know, if you've been watching me." Gorou said in shock. There was a small pause, where another person would have smiled, before he spoke again.

"Henshin."

A black aura pulsed out of his driver, and when Akira pulled his arms back to his side, it grew suddenly to a violent cone surrounding him, obscuring the figure inside. After a few seconds, it sharply cut off, leaving a black armoured person standing there. The small amounts of gemstone on his torso and lower arms glimmered similarly to Gorou's, but his was deep black, with a sinister edge. It looked sleeker than Gorou's armour in all its forms, with a plainer helmet too. The eyes were the only non-black part in the suit, glowing bright red. The suit formed fully when a tattered black scarf emerged from the neck portion, fluttering behind him.

"I am Kamen Rider Shade." Akira's voice spoke from within, sounding menacing.

The creature didn't take notice. It finally decided to attack, jumping at him, sword outstretched. Akira grabbed it and pulled it towards him, sidestepping the tip. The creature was surprised by this tactic, and fell forwards, unready for Akira's fist hitting it in the back of the neck followed by a blow to the centre of the back. It tried to swing around, but Akira was faster- he stepped backwards from the blade, it sliding past him harmlessly.

Akira took the chance to grab the arm holding the blade, chopping it to try and get the creature to drop it. It responded badly, punching him in the head to make him let go. Akira was pushed backwards, grunting in pain, falling to the floor. He looked up to see the beast readying his sword for an energy attack, which was sent flying at him as soon as he saw it being readied. He rolled out of the way, the floor where he had lain being sliced up to form a cloud of dust, concealing him. The creature turned towards Gorou and Natsumi, who had been watching the attack fairly uselessly, and who were now thinking they should have been running. They were surprised when the creature started backing away from them, as if in fear.

"Move."

They spun around to see why the creature was surprised. Akira was standing in the shadows, walking towards them. They ducked to the side, and he charged at the beast, jumping at the last minute to avoid its sword and punching it between the eyes. His momentum carried him past it, the creature sending a shockwave after him. He landed in a shadow, but before he was struck, he melted into it, his eyes fading, leaving no trace of him. The wave hit the now-empty space, slicing a hole through the wall.

Akira jumped out of a shadow behind the beast, hitting it in the neck with a large amount of force. It fell to its knees, bellowing in pain. Akira took the chance to grab its arm, this time focusing his chop on the blade itself. It didn't let go, but Akira tried again, this time his wrist shrouding itself in dark energy. The sword shattered into many pieces this time, the creature roaring, throwing Akira into a glass wall. It shattered, covering him in shards. He stood up, the pieces falling of him.

"Time to finish this…" Akira said, moving his hand over his driver. The gem inside pulsed, and a dark tendril spread from the gem down his leg. The creature started to move away from it, but it was obvious to anyone watching that the loss of its blade had injured it somehow- it was moving incredibly slowly, easily catchable. Akira jumped after it, stretching his leg into a kick shape. He collided with the creature, all the energy from his leg jolting into the creature. It roared for one last time before exploding into a cloud of darkness.

Gorou and Natsumi watched as Akira walked out of the battle, scarf blowing from the winds stirred by the sudden rush of air. He walked towards them, helmet covering his face. Gorou started talking, which Natsumi could tell was a bad idea.

"I don't know if we're supposed to be allies or not, but-" Akira walked past him, and when Gorou tried to follow, he pushed him into a building, turning to face him, Gorou moaning from the pain of being shoved into the side of a wall.

"We are not allies, Gorou Sanagai. We merely have the same goal, for now. If you could still fight, I would have no hesitations in ending you here. But I have no orders to, and I do not wish to fight you in this injured state." He walked past them, into a deep shadow, caused by the sun emerging from a cloud.

"But-" Natsumi tried to speak to him, but he faded into nothing before she could, and her sentence was left hanging.

"Nice to meet one of your friends, Natsumi-chan." Gorou laughed harshly, and Natsumi looked at him, still very confused.

* * *

The plot thickens! I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I've got time to write more stories, so I should be updating more than I have been. The trick to updating often is having no other commitments, after all! (I'm joking, before anyone gets angry at me. Don't let that happen.) As always, reviews are greatly appreciated, and I shall see you next time!


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